Chapter 20 Quiz

How did Congress react to Abraham Lincoln doing this?

Congress, as is often true in times of crisis, generally accepted or confirmed the president's questionable acts.

The call for troops, in turn, aroused the South much as the attack on Fort Sumter had aroused the North. Why?

Lincoln was now waging war—from the Southern view an aggressive war—on the Confederacy.

What were Lincoln's views on secession?

Lincoln's inaugural address was firm yet conciliatory: there would be no conflict unless the South provoked it. Secession, the president declared, was wholly impractical because "physically speaking, we cannot separate."

Why did Lincoln want to retain the border states within the Union?

Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri would almost double the manufacturing capacity of the South and increase by nearly half its supply of horses and mules. The strategic prize of the Ohio River flowed along the northern border of Kentucky and West Virginia—the "mountain white" area that somewhat illegally tore itself from the side of Virginia to become a free state in mid-1861.

What was the Union government like?

The North enjoyed the prestige of a long-established government, financially stable and fully recognized both at home and abroad. Lincoln, the inexperienced prairie politician, proved superior to the more experienced but less flexible Davis.

What happened as a result of the blueback money?

"Runaway inflation" occurred as Southern presses continued to grind out the poorly backed treasury notes, totaling in all more than $1 billion. The Confederate paper dollar finally sank to the point where it was worth only 1.6 cents when Lee surrendered. Overall, the war inflicted a 9,000 percent inflation rate on the Confederacy.

After agonizing indecision, how did Lincoln adopt a middle-of-the-road solution?

He notified the South Carolinians that an expedition would be sent to provision the garrison, though not to reinforce it. He promised "no effort to throw in men, arms, and ammunition." But to Southern eyes "provision" still spelled "reinforcement."

Why did Abraham Lincoln side-step the Constitution in some cases?

He understandably concluded that if he did not do so, and patch the parchment later, there might not be a Constitution of a united United States to mend.

What would have happened if Laird rams were delivered to the South?

If delivered to the South, they probably would have sunk the blockading squadrons and then brought Northern cities under their fire. In retaliation the North doubtless would have invaded Canada, and a full-dress war with Britain would have erupted. But Minister Adams took a hard line, warning that "this is war" if the rams were released. At the last minute, the London government relented and bought the two ships for the Royal Navy. Everyone seemed satisfied - except the disappointed Confederates.

How did slavery also color the character of the war in the West?

In Indian Territory, most of the Five Civilized Tribes sided with the Confederacy. Some of these Indians, notably the Cherokees, owned slaves and thus felt themselves to be making common cause with the slaveowning South. To secure their loyalty, the Confederate government agreed to take over federal payments to the tribes and invited the Native Americans to send delegates to the Confederate congress. In return the tribes supplied troops to the Confederate army.

How did Lincoln deal with the Border States?

In dealing with the Border States, President Lincoln did not rely solely on moral suasion but successfully used methods of dubious legality. In Maryland he declared martial law where needed and sent in troops, because this state threatened to cut off Washington from the North. Lincoln also deployed Union soldiers in western Virginia and notably in Missouri, where they fought beside Unionists in a local civil war within the larger Civil War.

In the long run, which side had more strengths?

In the long run, as the Northern strengths were brought to bear, they outweighed those of the South. But when the war began, the chances for Southern independence were unusually favorable - certainly better than the prospects for success of the thirteen colonies in 1776. The turn of a few events could easily have produced a different outcome.

How did the Confederate government have a fatal weakness?

Its constitution, borrowing liberally from that of the Union, contained one deadly defect. Created by secession, it could not logically deny future secession to its constituent states. President Davis, while making his bow to states' rights, had in view a well-knit central government. But determined states' rights supporters fought him bitterly to the end. The Richmond regime encountered difficulty even in persuading certain state troops to serve out-side their own borders.

What proved to be stronger than King Cotton?

King Wheat and King Corn - the monarchs of Northern agriculture. During these war years, the North, blessed with ideal weather, produced bountiful crops of grain and harvested them with McCormick's mechanical reaper. In the same period, the British suffered a series of bad harvests. They were forced to import huge quantities of grain from America, which happened to have the cheapest and most abundant supply.

What did Lincoln do after this?

Lincoln promptly issued a call to the states for seventy-five thousand militiamen, and volunteers sprang to the colors in such enthusiastic numbers that many were turned away—a mistake that was not often repeated. On April 19 and 27, the president proclaimed a leaky blockade of Southern seaports.

But in 1863, after volunteering had slackened, Congress passed...?

a federal conscription law for the first time on a nationwide scale in the United States. T

How was American bitterness also directed at Canada?

despite the vigilance of British authorities, Southern agents plotted to burn Northern cities. Hatred of England burned especially fiercely among Irish Americans, and they unleashed their fury on Canada. They raised several tiny "armies" of a few hundred green-shirted men and launched invasions of Canada.

What was Abraham Lincoln like as a leader?

inexperienced, but had a unifying effect on the Union could lead public opinion open to criticism side-stepped the Constitution on the basis of national interest

How was Lincoln's regime guilty of many other high-handed acts?

it arranged for "supervised" voting in the Border States. There the intimidated citizen, holding a colored ballot indicating his party preference, had to march between two lines of armed troops.

Like the North, the South at first relied mainly on volunteers. But since the Confederacy was much less populous...?

it scraped the bottom of its manpower barrel much more quickly. The Richmond regime was forced to resort to conscription as early as April 1862, nearly a year earlier than the Union.

How was a final Anglo-American crisis touched off in 1863?

it was touched off by the Laird rams - two Confederate warships being constructed in the shipyard of John Laird and Sons in Great Britain. Designed to destroy the wooden ships of the Union navy with their iron rams and large-caliber guns, they were far more dangerous than the swift but lightly armed Alabama.

What is a writ of habeas corpus?

means someone needs to be formally charged if the government accuses them of something.

The increases were designed partly to...?

raise additional revenue and partly to provide more protection for the prosperous manufacturers who were being plucked by the new internal taxes.

More than 90 percent of the Union troops were volunteers were volunteers because...?

social and patriotic pressures to enlist were strong. As able-bodied men became scarcer, generous bounties for enlistment were offered by federal, state, and local authorities. An enterprising and money-wise volunteer might legitimately pocket more than $1,000.

What did Emperor Napoleon III do during this time?

taking advantage of America's preoccupation with its own internal problems, dispatched a French army to occupy Mexico City in 1863. The following year he installed on the ruins of the crushed republic his puppet, Austrian archduke Maximilian, as emperor of Mexico. Both sending the army and enthroning Maximilian were flagrant violations of the Monroe Doctrine. Napoleon was gambling that the Union would collapse and thus America would be too weak to enforce its "hands-off" policy in the Western Hemisphere.

A financial landmark of the war was...?

the National Banking System, authorized by Congress in 1863. Launched partly as a stimulant to the sale of government bonds, it was also designed to establish a standard bank-note currency. Banks that joined the National Banking System could buy government bonds and issue sound paper money backed by them.

A Union naval force was next started on its way to Fort Sumter. What did the South regard this as?

the South regarded this as an act of aggression. On April 12, 1861, the cannon of the Carolinians opened fire on the fort, while crowds in Charleston applauded and waved handkerchiefs. After a thirty-four-hour bombardment, which took no lives, the dazed garrison surrendered.

Thus the war began not as one between slave soil and free soil, but one for...?

the Union - with slaveholders on both sides and many proslavery sympathizers in the North.

How did the North react to the assault on Fort Sumter?

the assault on Fort Sumter provoked the North to a fighting pitch: the fort was lost, but the Union was saved. Lincoln had turned a tactical defeat into a calculated victory. Southerners had wantonly fired upon the glorious Stars and Stripes, and honor demanded an armed response.

The war-born National Banking Act thus turned out to be...?

the first significant step taken toward a unified banking network since 1836, when the "monster" Bank of the United States was killed by Andrew Jackson.

The only major Northern industry to suffer a crippling setback was...?

the ocean-carrying trade, which fell prey to the Alabama and other raiders.

What would have happened if the British had broken the blockade to gain cotton?

they would have provoked the North to war and would have lost this precious granary. Unemployment for some seemed better than hunger for all.

Heroically energetic Clara Barton and dedicated Dorothea Dix, superintendent of nurses for the Union army, helped...?

transform nursing from a lowly service into a respected profession—and in the process opened up another major sphere of employment for women in the postwar era.

What was the Alabama?

unneutral building in Britain of Confederate commerce-raiders, notably the Alabama. These vessels were not warships within the meaning of loopholed British law because they left their shipyards unarmed and picked up their guns elsewhere.

Northern armies were at first manned solely by...?

volunteers, with each state assigned a quota based on population.

What was currency like in the South?

1.) Customs duties were choked off as the coils of the Union blockade tightened. 2.) Large issues of Confederate bonds were sold at home and abroad, amounting to nearly $400 million. 3.) The Richmond regime also increased taxes sharply and imposed a 10 percent levy on farm produce. But in general the states' rights Southerners were immovably opposed to heavy direct taxation by the central authority 4.) As revenue began to dry up, the Confederate government was forced to print blue-backed paper money.

Blessed with a lion's share of the wealth, the North rode through the financial breakers much more smoothly than the South. How was this so?

1.) Excise taxes on tobacco and alcohol were substantially increased by Congress. 2.) An income tax was levied for the first time in the nation's experience, and although the rates were painlessly low by later standards, they netted millions of dollars. 3.) Customs receipts likewise proved to be important revenue-raisers.

Why did the British not intervene on behalf of the South during the Civil War?

1.) The masses of workingpeople in Britain, and to some extent in France, were pulling and praying for the North. Many of them had read Uncle Tom's Cabin. Their certain hostility to any official intervention on behalf of the South evidently had a sobering effect on the British government. 2.) Cotton had been so lavishly productive in the immediate prewar years of 1857-1860. Enormous exports of cotton in those years had piled up surpluses in British warehouses. When the shooting started in 1861, British manufacturers had on hand a hefty oversupply of fiber. The real pinch did not come until about a year and a half later when thousands of hungry operatives were thrown out of work.

What were the effects of the "cotton famine" in Britain were relieved in several ways?

1.) certain kindhearted Americans sent over several cargoes of foodstuffs. As Union armies penetrated the South, they captured or bought considerable supplies of cotton and shipped them to Britain; the Confederates also ran a limited quantity through the blockade. 2.) the cotton growers of Egypt and India, responding to high prices, increased their output and captured a share of the world cotton market that they held on to well after the war's conclusion. 3.) Finally, booming war industries in England, which supplied both the North and the South, relieved unemployment.

How did Abraham Lincoln side-step the Constitution?

1.) he boldly proclaimed a blockade on southern ports 2.) He arbitrarily increased the size of the Federal army - something that only Congress can do under the Constitution 3.) He directed the secretary of the Treasury to advance $2 million without appropriation or security to three private citizens for military purposes - a grave irregularity contrary to the Constitution 4.) He suspended the precious privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, so that anti-Unionists might be summarily arrested. In taking this step, he defied a dubious ruling by the chief justice that the safeguards of habeas corpus could be set aside only by the authorization of Congress

What were the Disadvantages of the Union in the Civil War?

1.) inferior military leadership - Whether immigrant or native, ordinary Northern boys were much less prepared than their Southern counterparts for military life. The North was much less fortunate in its forced to higher commanders. Lincoln used a costly trial-and-error method to sort out effective leaders from the many incompetent political officers until he finally uncovered a general, Ulysses S. Grant

What were the Disadvantages of the Confederacy in the Civil War?

1.) one-dimensional economy - false reliance on cotton (greatest weakness) 2.) poor transportation - caused hunger 3.) weak economy - grave shortages of shoes, uniforms, and blankets disabled the South. Even with immense stores of food on Southern farms, civilians and soldiers often went hungry because of supply problems.

How would uncontested secession create new controversies?

1.) raise questions of how to divide the national debt between the North and the South 2.) what portion of the jointly held federal territories, if any, should the Confederate states be allotted 3.) would lead to increased numbers of fugitive slaves 4.) entice Europe to possibly seize American territories

What were the Advantages of the Union in the Civil War?

1.) strong economy - boasted about three-fourths of the nation's wealth, including three-fourths of the thirty thousand miles of railroads 2.) healthy agricultural outputs - its sea power also enabled the North to exchange huge quantities of grain for munitions and supplies from Europe, thus adding the output from the factories of Europe to its own 3.) massive industrialization 4.) superior/established navy - established a blockade that, though a sieve at first, soon choked off Southern supplies and eventually shattered Southern morale 5.) higher population - The loyal states had a population of some 22 million; the seceding states had 9 million people, including about 3.5 million slaves. Adding to the North's overwhelming supply of soldiers were even more immigrants from Europe, who continued to pour into the North even during the war (most of them were British, Irish, and German)

How did the Northern economy flourish during the war?

1.) technology and industrialization led to increased profits 2.) women did jobs men had done 3.) first millionaire class - some made money by producing inferior goods

What were the Advantages of the Confederacy in the Civil War?

1.) were in a position where they could fight a defensive war 2) took place in the South - knew the geography better 3.) better leadership - more military schooling (most superior advantage) 4.) more familiar with horses and firearms - excellent cavalrymen and foot soldiers -by seizing federal weapons, running Union blockades, and developing their own ironworks, Southerners managed to obtain sufficient weaponry. 5.) dedicated to a cause 6.) the South did not have to win the war in order to win its independence. If it merely fought the invaders to a draw and stood firm, Confederate independence would be won

What was the Trent Affair?

A Union warship cruising on the high seas north of Cuba stopped a British mail steamer, the Trent, and forcibly two Confederate diplomats bound for Europe.

How did Confederate draft regulations also worked serious injustices?

As in the North, a rich man could hire a substitute or purchase exemption. Slaveowners or overseers with twenty slaves might also claim exemption. These special privileges, later modified, made for bad feelings among the less prosperous, many of whom complained that this was "a rich man's war but a poor man's fight." No large-scale draft riots broke out in the South, as in New York City.

How did the issue of the divided Union come to a head over the matter of federal forts in the South?

As the seceding states left, they seized the United States' arsenals, mints, and other public property within their borders. When Lincoln took office, only two significant forts in the South still flew the Stars and Stripes. The more important of the pair was square-walled Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor, with fewer than a hundred men. The South considered Fort Sumter as their property.

Any official statement of the North's war aims was profoundly influenced by the teetering Border States. How was this so?

At the very outset, Lincoln was obliged to declare publicly that he was not fighting to free the blacks. An antislavery declaration would no doubt have driven the Border States into the welcoming arms of the South. An antislavery war was also extremely unpopular in the so-called Butternut region of southern Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.

What were the results of the Trent Affair?

Britons were outraged, war preparations buzzed and red-coated troops embarked for Canada. The London Foreign Office prepared an ultimatum demanding surrender of the prisoners and an apology. But luckily, slow communications gave passions on both sides a chance to cool. Lincoln reluctantly released them.

What was a "shoddy millionaire"?

Dishonest agents, putting profits above patriotism, palmed off aged and blind horses on government purchasers. Unscrupulous Northern manufacturers supplied shoes with cardboard soles and fast-disintegrating uniforms of reprocessed or "shoddy" wool rather than virgin wool. Hence the reproachful term "shoddy millionaires" was doubly fair. One profiteer reluctantly admit-ted that his profits were "painfully large."

What was the U.S. Sanitary Commission?

Dr. Elizabeth Black-well, America's first female physician, helped organize the U.S. Sanitary Commission to assist the Union armies in the field. The commission trained nurses, collected medical supplies, and equipped hospitals. Commission work helped many women to acquire the organizational skills and the self-confidence that would propel the women's movement forward after the war.

What was the Morrill Tariff Act?

Early in 1861, after enough antiprotection Southern members had seceded, Congress passed the Morrill Tariff Act, superseding the low Tariff of 1857. It increased the existing duties some 5 to 10 percent, boosting them to about the moderate level of the Walker Tariff of 1846. But these modest rates were soon pushed sharply upward by the necessities of war.

What was the Homestead Act of 1862?

Pioneers continued to push westward during the war, altogether an estimated 300,000 people. Major magnets were free gold nuggets and free land under the Homestead Act of 1862.

How were the provisions of the conscription law unfair to the poor?

Rich boys could hire substitutes to go in their places or purchase exemption outright by paying $300.

What became the Confederate capital after this?

Richmond, Virginia, replaced Montgomery, Alabama, as the Confederate capital - too near Washington for strategic comfort on either side.

What did the South count on during the Civil War?

Successful revolutions, including the American Revolution of 1776, have generally succeeded because of foreign intervention. The South counted on it, did not get it, and lost. Of all the Confederacy's potential assets, none counted more weightily than the prospect of foreign intervention. Europe's ruling classes were openly sympathetic to the Confederate cause. They had long abhorred the incendiary example of the American democratic experiment, and they cherished a kind of fellow-feeling for the South's semifeudal, aristocratic social order.

What was the Butternut region?

That area had been settled largely by Southerners who had carried their racial prejudices with them when they had crossed the Ohio River. It was to be a hotbed of pro-Southern sentiment throughout the war. Sensitive to this delicate political calculus, Lincoln insisted repeatedly - even though undercutting his moral high ground - that his paramount purpose was to save the Union at all costs.

What was the Dominion of Canada?

The British Parliament established it in 1867. It was partly designed to bolster the Canadians, both politically and spiritually, against the possible vengeance of the United States.

What were greenbacks?

The Washington Treasury also issued greenbacked paper money, totaling nearly $450 million, at face value. This printing-press currency was inadequately supported by gold, and hence its value was determined by the nation's credit. Greenbacks thus fluctuated with the fortunes of Union arms and at one low point were worth only 39 cents on the gold dollar. The holders of the notes, victims of creeping inflation, were indirectly taxed as the value of the currency slowly withered in their hands.

The North, as long as it was convulsed by war, pursued a walk-on-eggs policy toward France. How was this so?

The Washington government gave aid to the resistance movement headed by Mexico's beloved national hero Benito Juárez. But when the shooting stopped in 1865, Secretary of State Seward, speaking with the authority of nearly a million war-tempered bayonets, prepared to march south. Napoleon realized that his costly gamble was doomed. He reluctantly took "French leave" of his ill-starred puppet in 1867, and Maximilian soon crumpled ingloriously before a Mexican firing squad.

What were the New York draft riots?

The draft was especially condemned in the Democratic strongholds of the North, notably in New York City. A frightful riot broke out in 1863, touched off largely by underprivileged and antiblack Irish Americans. For several days the New York draft riots put the city at the mercy of a rampaging, pillaging mob. Scores of lives were lost, and the victims included many lynched blacks. Elsewhere in the North, conscription met with resentment and an occasional minor riot.

What were the Border States?

The only slave states left were the crucial Border States. This group consisted of Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware. If the North had fired the first shot, some or all of these doubtful states prob-ably would have seceded, and the South might well have succeeded. The border group actually contained a white population more than half that of the entire Confederacy.

How was the Civil War a women's war too?

The protracted conflict opened new opportunities for women. When men departed in uniform, women often took their jobs. In Washington, D.C., five hundred women clerks became government workers, with over one hundred in the Treasury Department alone. The booming military demand for shoes and clothing, combined with technological marvels like the sewing machine, likewise drew countless women into industrial employment. Before the war one industrial worker in four had been female; during the war the ratio rose to one in three. Some posed as male soldiers, others took on dangerous spy missions.

How was this conflict a "brothers' war"?

There were many Northern volunteers from the Southern states and many Southern volunteers from the Northern states. The "mountain whites" of the South sent north some 50,000 men, and the loyal slave states contributed some 300,000 soldiers to the Union.

Why were the choices presented to Lincoln by Fort Sumter were all bad?

This stronghold had provisions that would last only a few weeks - until the middle of April 1861. If no supplies were forthcoming, its commander would have to surrender without firing a shot. Lincoln, quite understandably, did not feel that such a weak-kneed course squared with his obligation to protect federal property. But if he sent reinforcements, the South Carolinians would undoubtedly fight back; they could not tolerate a federal fort blocking the mouth of their most important Atlantic seaport.

The Alabama was beneath the waves, but the issue of British-built Confederate raiders stayed afloat. How?

Under prodding by the American minister, Charles Francis Adams, the British gradually perceived that allowing such ships to be built was a dangerous precedent that might someday be used against them. In 1863 London openly violated its own leaky laws and seized another raider being built for the South. But despite greater official efforts by Britain to remain truly neutral, Con-federate commerce-destroyers, chiefly British-built, captured more than 250 Yankee ships, severely crip-pling the American merchant marine, which never fully recovered

What states joined the Confederacy after this?

Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina, all of which had earlier voted down secession, reluctantly joined their embattled sister states.

What was Jefferson Davis like as a leader?

Was an experienced politician, but not a very effective leader. Could not lead public opinion. States' rights people thwarted his leadership efforts. Inclined to defy rather than lead public opinion.